


A Sprout in the Garden

by Lizardbeth



Series: A Seed in Barren Lands [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Babies, Canon Divergence - Thor: The Dark World, Established Relationship, F/M, Family Fluff, Pregnancy, Sifki Week 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-07-10 08:34:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19902844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lizardbeth/pseuds/Lizardbeth
Summary: A few years after A Crocus in the Snow, Sif has news for Loki.





	A Sprout in the Garden

**Author's Note:**

> For Sifki Week 2019, prompt of 'Confessions'. [woodelf](/users/woodelf/) prompted me at my tumblr for Sif telling Loki she's pregnant, and I just naturally thought we should look in on these two a couple of years' worth of recovery, after A Crocus in the Snow.

* * *

Fenrir was the first to know. Sif didn't think much of it, when he and Loki returned from a run up the river. Loki greeted her quickly and loped off to the washroom, while Fenrir tagged along behind. But the wolf slowed, lifted his head, and his ears swiveled before he turned and padded back to her.

Without warning he stuck his big muzzle right at her crotch, causing her to stagger backward, both from surprise and because a wolf the size of a pony was not light. "Fenrir!" 

Fenrir didn't do it again, but he sat, tail swishing and head cocked to look at her, while his tongue lolled out. 

"What?" Sif demanded of him, hands on her hips. "What was that about?" Well, she had an idea- Fenrir would obviously smell her cycle, so perhaps he could smell it coming. "Don't do that!" she scolded, and the unrepentant _hound_ just grinned at her.

He didn't answer, of course, and padded after Loki again. 

But her cycle didn't come and she forgot all about the incident until two weeks later. She didn't even stir when Loki rose and could barely open her eyes when he leaned over her. "I have a meeting, are you going to lounge in bed all day?" he teased. She stretched and yawned.

"I might, actually. I'm tired." 

He kissed her gently. "Then rest. I'll see you later. Fenrir!" 

But Fenrir seemed afflicted with the same tiredness and just cracked his eyes open before shutting them again. Loki shook his head, rolling his eyes, "Fine. I'll see you _both_ later." 

Sif glowered at Fenrir. "You are his dog, not mine. Go, be with him." 

Fenrir did not stir from the bed, and she didn't want to do more to persuade him. 

Later, in the washroom, the smell of the soap, normally something she liked, struck her like a blow and she turned to throw up in the toilet. Rinsing out her mouth, she looked at her reflection, now a bit worried. She hadn't been drinking last night, so why the dry-heaves? Was she sick? 

Fenrir was hanging around outside the room, watching her, and his gaze looked worried now. And she remembered an article she'd read on Midgard about special dogs they had that could smell disease.

Fenrir kept pace with her to the infirmary, and sat very well-behaved at her side for her to scratch his ears while she waited for Eir. 

She explained what happened and she was lying in the Soul Forge to be scanned, and Eir said, "Ah." 

What did that mean? Was it a bad 'ah'? Because they didn't need that. Surely she and Loki had already paid off their debts to fate. Sif could deal with something wrong, but Loki was just beginning to sleep through the night regularly, without nightmares, and he still liked Fenrir to help him keep himself calm.

"Eir?" she asked, sitting up, while Fenrir came to her and put his muzzle on her knee to ask for soothings. "What is it? What's wrong?" 

Eir smiled. "Nothing, Lady Sif. It appears you are pregnant." 

Sif stared at her, unable to comprehend at first. "A baby?" 

"Yes. It's still quite early. Fenrir," Eir cast Fenrir a disapproving glance for leaving fur all over her infirmary, "must have smelled your hormonal change almost immediately. There is still plenty of time to decide your options."

"Options?" Sif repeated blankly then realized. "Oh. OH! No, no." Her hand went automatically to her abdomen, though there was nothing to feel yet. But practicality reasserted itself and she bit her lip. "Unless you think his... blood is dangerous?" 

"I will do a more thorough exam of the child, to be certain, but indications thus far seem perfectly normal," Eir reassured her. "It will take some months before we will learn what... features," she said delicately, "the child will possess." 

Aesir, Jotnar, or a mix? Sif translated. She had never been able to persuade Loki to show her his Jotunn form again after the duel, but she remembered it was something beautiful. She could accept a child half-way between, she just wasn't sure Loki could.

What was he going to think about this? They'd never talked about children, she realized now.

Eir left her to think about it, and Sif petted Fenrir. "So that's what you smelled, hm? The new cub? I know you'll be happy about it. It's Loki's reaction I'm worried about. But he's better now, isn't he?" 

Fenrir, the ungrateful beast, did not answer her then, either.

It took two days for Sif to find the right moment to talk to Loki about it -- and even that was only because Loki would notice Fenrir's overly attentive behavior and she didn't want him either to be hurt by his wolf's 'abandonment', or figure out the truth on his own.

When Fenrir sat at her side of the small table in their quarters for private dinner, instead of the side that usually gave him treats, she knew it was time.

She poured wine for him and set the decanter down without serving any to herself. _Here we go._

"Sif?" Loki raised his brows at her. "What is it? You've been... troubled for ... a week? Do you not want to go to the mountains? We don't have to go." 

She shook her head. "That's not it. I -- Have you noticed Fenrir's been acting weirdly lately?" 

"Have you been feeding him bits of steak when I'm not looking?" he teased lightly.

"No, no, I haven't'. But there is a reason for it. He can smell -- he knows --" _\-- spit it out, are you a woman or a child? -- "_ he can tell I'm ... pregnant." 

The last word fell into the silence like a giant stone that sat there, untouched. Loki just looked at her, not appearing to breathe for several full seconds.

"What? That's not--" he said eventually. "Is it mine?" 

She had not expected _that_ , and nearly threw her goblet at his head. "Yes! Of course it's _yours_!" 

"I ... sorry. I just... I never thought it was _possible_ ," he explained haltingly. "Are you... all right?"

"Yes, Eir did all the tests. She said I'm fine, and so far the baby's developing normally. It's very early still." 

His lips shaped 'baby' soundlessly. In a small voice, he added, "I never imagined. Not after..." his voice died in his throat, and it took a moment for him to find it again, "When I found out the truth, I thought it could never happen. I didn't want to think that it could, because if it was possible, how could I ever find anyone who would want a ... monster's child." The echo of old torments was in his voice, and her heart ached to hear it come back.

"You're not--" she started reflexively but he held up his hand to stop her. 

His lips made a wry smile. "I know. I even believe it myself some days." 

Fenrir stood up and padded over to him, and when Loki didn't pet him quickly enough, poked him in the leg with his muzzle insistently until Loki's hand sank into the thick fur to scratch him. 

After he'd gained some calm, he looked back up at her, face lined with regret. "I'm sorry, I should have reacted with more enthusiasm, more joy--"

"No," she shook her head. "We promised each other honesty. And I knew you would need to figure it out. Hell, I needed to figure it out. And I had a few days," she confessed but it didn't bother him that she hadn't told him right away. She took a breath. "But tell me this-- do you _want_ a child?" She held tense, fearing the truth that he would say no, that he wasn't ready. 

But he surprised her. "Of yours? More than anything," he answered. The simple honesty made her eyes sting. 

"Of _ours_ ," she corrected softly. "Yours and mine."

"Ours," he repeated and smiled. "I like the sound of that, actually." 

She couldn't resist anymore and went to sit on his lap. Ordinarily that was a position used for other things, but right now all she wanted was for his arms to hold her tight, while her head rested on his shoulder. "We're going to do this," she whispered. "Do you think we can be good parents?"

"My baseline for that is admittedly low," he answered with a terrible dry humor, "But yes. You'll be splendid, that much I know already. Me? I'll try not to screw it up too much."

She could hardly bear imagining him holding a tiny baby, reading to him or her, playing together, teaching magic... She had watched him when Fenrir had been still a cub, gentleness and affection welling out of him from where trauma had pushed it. She had no doubt at all. "You will be amazing," she said, voice ragged. "I can see it already." 

"I hope so. It's a little terrifying."

Fenrir nudged her arm, wanting to get his share of the cuddling, so she let him wedge his head against her ribs.

Loki let out a chuckle. "You know Fenrir is going to be so sorry about this later. He thinks he's getting a cub to play with." 

The 'cub' was going to pull his fur and his ears, and poke him with sticks. But she had no fear that Fenrir would ever hurt a child. They had all learned that painful lesson a long time ago. On the other hand, nobody would dare approach a baby guarded by a giant wolf that could rip a man's arm off.

"Safest baby in the Nine Realms." 

"Once Uncle Thor finds out? You better believe it." 

"Oh gods, no," she groaned. She hadn't thought of that, yet. "He's going to be _insufferable_ hovering over me."

"Then he can stop hovering over me," Loki retorted, unrepentant, so she poked him in the side. His arms tightened and he kissed the side of her face that he could reach. "It will be all right," he promised. 

Whether that was more to himself or to her, she couldn't be sure, but she would take it, either way. 

They would be all right.


End file.
